


Five Streetlamps

by ghost_like



Series: 31 Days of Halloween 2k18 [16]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Anxiety, Evil Places, M/M, Malignant Genius Loci, Psychological Horror, the hyuken is just implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-04 03:17:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16338806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghost_like/pseuds/ghost_like
Summary: There was a certain peace to be found on a completely empty street late at night.





	Five Streetlamps

**Author's Note:**

> shout out to my sister for helping me out with the ideas for this
> 
> today's prompt is "malignant genius loci"
> 
> enjoy!♡

There was a certain peace to be found on a completely empty street late at night. Sanghyuk firmly believed so as he walked home, long after midnight, headphones over his ears blasting a cheerful bubblegum pop type song from a girl group he was just beginning to get into.

No matter which direction he looked, there was not a single soul around, the sidewalks empty of any pedestrians, the streets void of any cars. The breeze was cool on the skin of his face, but the night was a pleasant temperature, not too hot, not too cold, the light cardigan he had on over his short-sleeved tee more than enough to keep him warm. The sky was clear of any clouds, although very few stars could be seen through the light pollution - the only complaint he had at that moment, really.

It had been a good day too - he even managed to make his co-worker and longtime crush laugh. Granted, making Lee Jaehwan laugh wasn’t all that hard, but Sanghyuk still felt very accomplished any time it happened.

Maybe he should finally take that leap and ask him out. Chances were he’d be rejected, but trying was half the battle, right?

He turned the corner around the minimart, now walking the street adjacent to the one where his small apartment building was located. He just needed to get to the end of that block, turn left, and there would his apartment be, just two gates down from that street. He would have taken a shortcut, gone around as he would usually do, but it was such a nice night he decided he didn’t mind walking for a little longer.

That street, like the previous one, was empty, five streetlamps casting yellow spotlights at equal intervals from one side to the next, shining their light on no one but the pavement. The song Sanghyuk was listening to ended, the muffled sounds of his footsteps the only thing he could hear during the time the next song took to begin, this time a mellow, romantic ballad. Jaehwan had recommended that one. He couldn’t help a little smile.

About halfway down the street, Sanghyuk shivered when a colder draft blew past him, making him close his cardigan tighter around himself to fight off the chill. It was alright, he was almost home and a little wind didn’t bother him.

The wind stopped; the cold remained.

Sanghyuk didn’t think much of it, already walking past the fourth streetlamp, the block’s end in sight and his warm, comfortable bed in mind. He picked up his speed without realizing, moving faster towards the end of the block, past the fifth and last streetlamp to turn the corner of his street.

Once he did, he stopped, frowning. He looked back the way he came and found himself standing next to the minimart again. Looking forward, the same five streetlamps awaited ahead, still shining their light down on the grey pavement. Did he get distracted? Take a wrong turn? He looked back again. Minimart. Forward. Five streetlamps. Weird.

Shrugging and pushing away the confusion, Sanghyuk walked down the street once again, faster this time. Was he that tired? No, he couldn’t be, the day had been relatively slow, he didn’t do much work and had slept well the night before, he couldn’t be tired to the point of imagining things, even less things like—

He rounded the corner and stopped again. Five streetlamps. He took a step back, looked to the side. Minimart.

No way.

He slid the headphones off his head so they were resting around his neck instead, the silence of great help to allow his mind to process whatever was going on.

This time, he ran to reach the end of the street fast, and, again, he was met with five streetlamps once he rounded the corner. Shaking his head in disbelief, he turned and walked back the way he came, the street of the minimart. He froze the moment he did.

Five streetlamps.

That wasn’t possible.

He turned around again and again was met with five streetlamps. This time, however, the first one began to flicker. Alright. Way to make a creepy situation even creepier.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, a useless but valid attempt to calm himself down, Sanghyuk walked down the street again, taking careful note of his surroundings this time. There was no way he was walking the same street over and over again, it simply was not possible. The time he’d spent online reading about paranormal phenomena and glitches in the matrix were not helpful at all at that moment, mostly because his mind had emptied of any information that could give him an insight regarding what was happening and how to make it stop.

He rounded the corner again, and again there they were, five streetlamps. This time, only four of them were working - the first had gone dark.

Exhaling a shaky breath, Sanghyuk began walking again, feeling cold sweat running on the sides of his temples, on the back of his neck. The transpiration had to be from fear, for the temperature had dropped further, the wind gelid on his heated skin. He walked past the first lamp, the dark one, then past the second, the third, and the fourth. He hesitated before passing the last one, afraid he would find himself again on that same street, but if he didn’t move he would never find a way out, right?

He moved, one foot after the other, and rounded the corner.

He wanted to cry at the sight of those five streetlamps.

He tried crossing the street before turning around a different corner. Same results, and now there were two streetlamps turned off, only half of the way illuminated. It gave Sanghyuk a feeling of eerie, unnatural dread.

But he had to keep going.

He ran down the street again. Five streetlamps. Minimart. The third light went off just as he walked past it again and he stopped to look up. That shouldn’t happen, should it? The lights shouldn’t be turning off like that. He pulled his phone from his pocket, deciding to just stay put and calm down and call someone to come pick him up. He could make something up, something that would sound less crazy than what was happening if they asked why he was asking to be picked up half a block away from home.

The point was moot when he found his phone dead, the battery completely drained when it had been more than half full just minutes before. He cursed under his breath and shoved it back in his pocket before he continued to walk.

He found himself at the beginning of that same street yet again, the fourth light flickering briefly before it went off, and now only the last streetlamp was on.

This time, however, he could see something standing under the last beam of light - some _one_.

His first instinct was to sprint forward and ask for help, but he caught himself before he took a step ahead, something in the back of his mind blaring sirens of warning. That couldn’t be good. The street had been empty so far, void of any life, and now there was someone just— _there_. No, it couldn’t be good. Whoever it was just stood there under the lamp, not moving an inch. Waiting. Waiting for what? For him?

Sanghyuk breathed, in and out, in and out, hands clenched into fists as he watched the figure, seconds ticking by slowly while whoever it was continued to stand there and do nothing. It was creeping him out the way very few things did.

And just like that, the figure turned and walked away, very slow, down the street where his home should be. That was the cue for Sanghyuk to take off running after the person - if they could leave that street, then he could too, right?

He reached the last streetlamp and turned around the corner, expecting to see the familiar view of his home address, and when he saw the same street again he couldn’t help a little desperate sob. The figure was just standing under the last lamp again, like it had been there all along. It couldn’t be a person, a person couldn’t have moved so fast.

What choices did he have? Every direction took him to the same place, his phone was dead, there was nobody around, no cars, and he had no weapon to defend himself. He didn’t think screaming would be of any use, as that wasn’t a residential street and all stores were closed and empty.

He was alone. Completely and utterly alone.

Heart pounding, legs trembling, hands shaking, he began to walk towards that figure, a thousand scenarios running through his mind as to what would happen once he reached them. Nothing good, his brain supplied over and over, _nothing good_. Still he carried on, still he moved his feet, shuffling forward towards the last lamp, towards the strange figure, towards anything that could bring him closer to leaving that place.

As he walked past the third streetlamp, the figure turned and walked away once again, and once again Sanghyuk took off running after them as if that would do him any favors. He stood under the last streetlamp. It flickered.

Oh no.

Panic took over from there and he ran, ran as fast as he could to reach the end of the street before the light flickered off, the figure now gone, and that gave Sanghyuk hope - if the figure managed to get out, then he could too, he had to.

He passed the last streetlamp and turned the corner again and stumbled to a halt, tears of relief in his eyes. His street, finally, he was home, he was out of that place. He laughed looking back to make sure he was at the end.

He couldn’t see much beyond the figure standing right behind him in the darkness, only an unnatural, wide, enormous smile visible before there was nothing but a void of blackness all around him.

**Author's Note:**

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